Tuesday, August 5, 2014

I'm happy to be writing this mail about the "AA Independence Run" on behalf of our cultural committee.

How many of you know Running (walking included) makes you happier?

I'm sure some of you, regularly walking or running , would have figured this out by now. In general, exercise will make you feel better but running is my personal favorite. Those who have run and had experienced "runner's high" - the rush of endocannabinoids :) or simply called the feel-good-harmones" can talk volumes about it.

The Spirit of running

I'm going to highlight an extract from an internet article regarding the spirit of running people, 3 cultures, and introduce fourth and the newest,

1. The Marathon Monks, Hiei, Japan: The marathon monks, who live in Enryaku Temple atop Mount Hiei, in Japan are quite possibly the greatest anomaly in Japanese society, if not the world. Few choose to live their lives according to such strict guidelines, especially when it comes to feats of personal prowess.

Wearing only straw sandals, white robes, a staff, and a hat, eachmarathon monk begins walking or running approximately 50 km around the mountain to return in time for meditation and the meal. This is done over 100, 700, or 1000 days, depending on how far along the initiated is their monastic training. They say there are only 46 men to successfully complete the 1000-day quest.

2. The Tarahumara or the Raramuri tribes, Mexico. The Raramuri tribes are featured in the famous 'proud to be kept in every runners shelf' book "Born to Run". The Tarahumara are an isolated tribe of Raramuri (running people) living in one of the most remote places on the planet (between the mountains of Copper Canyon, just west of Chihuahua, Mexico)

For the Tarahumara, running is life. They run between mesas in Mexico at temperatures rivaling Death Valley, sometimes unsure whether water is waiting for them. More to the point, it's fun; runners range from teenagers to grandfathers with the same level of skill, and all compete in the games; Kicking a ball from runner to runner for over fifty miles, sometimes after a day of bingeing on corn beer and smoking :) (we can certainly relate to this part)

3. The Africans (Kenyans & bushmen of the kalahari. The Kenyans always conjure images of distance running, impossible feats of endurance, and barefoot jogging through grassy fields. It's no wonder they have been major and dominant in every major marathonworldwide;

Bushmen choose to keep up with their natural hunting skills using bows and arrows, tracking, and are able to literally run an animal to death. Kudus, a particular group, is able to run in a pack (like the wild dogs), for more than fifteen miles before the animals succumb to the heat and their failing hearts.

Let me stop here....enough of the monks, the raramurians and the tribes....lets talk about the fourth, the untold stories of the Azaleans and Altheans.

4. The Azaleans and Altheans

Azaleans and Altheans, part of the Nagenahalli village, north of Bangalore in India are known to be a unique community in the world and are also known for many of their natural instincts.

.......be the best for safe community living, wants to get better even if it takes a petty fight or a tough stance or a loud point, doesn't mind joining hands to work together, to be precise, go for a hunt as a pack, believes to be socially responsible and be conscious human beings not just care about their community but also about the entire world, enjoys every event as a community unlike someone who believes in celebrating inside closed doors, wants to be role model to their children and to the rest of the world, struggles...learns...but at the same time also shares....cares and helps others...find many excuses to celebrate together.....

there are much more untold stories about them.

P.S Anthropologists are researching to understand all of the natural instincts of Azaleans and Altheans , their secret traits and behaviors or simply finding their community spirit.

Researchers have found that the Azaleans and Altheans culture is a combination all the first 3 cultures described above,

like the Japanese monks: Old-men-and-women with young-heart-and-enthusiasm, like the Japanese monks, going around and around the Azalea and Althea, before they return to their homes for meditation and meals.

like the Tahramura tribes:The young-men-and-women, teenagers and children with strong-will-and-fighting spirits run around their routines to take care of their family and society. Its not very clear on how much the men binge on beer :)

like the Africans: known for their endurance and their ability to keep up to their natural hunting skills, go as a pack, using mails and phone calls, tracking and meeting, are able to literally run anyone down, be it BBMP, or the builder, the government officials, achieve the impossible feats, they are simply dominant when it comes to community living.

August 15, India will be celebrating its 68th Independence day. This is a wonderful opportunity for each one of you to come and witness this unique community, the spirit of people, the spirit of oneness....the spirit and joy of walking and running!!!

The best can happen only when each one of you participate in this event!!!

NOTE: The registration and bib collection for the "AA Independence day run" will begin soon after the "Master Chef" event on the Sunday 10-Aug-2014 at around 7.00 pm.